WITH the departure of several key players, Cebu Football Club (CFC) is looking to remain competitive in the upcoming 2026-2027 Philippines Football League (PFL) season despite fielding a relatively new team.
“I’m always optimistic. Our goal is always to bring the league title here in Cebu,” said CFC team owner Ugur Tasci during a recent visit to VoxPop Cebu. “The other season, we didn’t win it but we won the Finals series. We want take it one step at a time, but like I said, the goal is always to bring the league title to Cebu. I believe that we will always be competitive.”
The club’s longest tenured players and co-captains Roberto “Papu” Corsame Jr. and Daniel Gadia, who have been with the team since 2021, are leaving the team for different clubs.
Aside from the duo, star goalkeeper Rami Jeridi, Naoki Takasu, Kazuha Sudo, Kaito Asano, Willy Kapawa, Anderson Pinto, Rhino Goutier, Goktug Demiroglu, Leo Maquiling, Elijah Lao, and Jaime Rosquillo have also left the club.
Despite the departures, Tasci remains confident in the new team, which features plenty of homegrown Cebuano talent and is led by decorated head coach Glen Ramos.
However, Tasci said his biggest challenge right now is securing a major corporate sponsor to provide financial support for the team. He urged large Cebu-based companies to get behind the team and help bring prestige to Cebu through football in the PFL.
“What we are working on right now is to be sustainable. It’s very difficult to be sustainable. It’s our challenge,” he said.
Even though Cebu FC has just been in the PFL for five years, the Cebu club has already brought prestige to Cebu. It has finished runner-up twice in the league, won the PFL Finals series last year, and represented the Philippines internationally in the AFC Champions League Two, AFC Cup, and the Asean Club Championship.
CFC will make its 2026-2027 PFL season debut on Sept. 12, 2026, against Maharlika Manila FC at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila. / EKA
